


Vaira

by Rediamond



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 22:55:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5068051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rediamond/pseuds/Rediamond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the world careens towards destruction, Arceus brings together a revolutionary from the future, a sociopath from the edges of the universe, and the hero of another dimension to prevent the apocalypse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vaira

**Author's Note:**

> Awards:  
> -Best Story (Bulbagarden, Summer 2015)  
> -Best Dark Fic (Bulbagarden, Summer 2015)  
> -Best Supporting Character (Bulbagarden, Summer 2015)
> 
> I play a lot with realism in this story so if you don't want to read at least one discussion of morality, economics, and political structures you might want to go elsewhere. If you can tolerate it, though, I promise there are other things inside. I also try to return reviews, so if you review Vaira I'll take a look at your story if I have time.
> 
> Also because it confuses people: this story takes place in "the real world" with the first four regions placed in the southern Pacific Ocean in the ancestral waters of the Polynesians, such as the Maori of New Zealand.

“My soul would sing of metamorphoses.  
But since, o gods, you were the source of these  
bodies becoming other bodies, breathe  
your breath into my book of changes: may  
the song I sing be seamless as its way  
weaves from the world's beginning to our day.”  
-Ovid, Metamorphoses

“Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other…”  
-Karl Marx, “The Communist Manifesto”

“It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.”  
-F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

“Very well! Do what you will! Rather than repairing the world, you're going to destroy it for me! Do it. You inherit my legacy."  
-Cyrus, Pokémon Platinum

 

**Vaira**

Veilstone City: December 1999

“At its core, humanity yearns to be complete… it longs to reach a final state. Perfection. Wholeness. We see it every time a crisis arises and a visionary comes forward with a new, bold plan. Marx sought the end of history, the completion of humanity. In their own ways, so did Hitler, Mao, Reagan, Ghandi, and Tupuhi. None succeeded. They passed, taking their visions with them, and humanity remains incomplete. Why?

I have pondered the subject for years and come to one inescapable conclusion… Spirit. Emotion. Knowledge. Willpower. These forces that philosophers across time and space have hailed as the foundation of our humanity… they hold us back. The public believes they want peace. Every leader professes their desire for it. Yet on a daily basis on scales vast and small humans come into conflict. They clash and compete and leave humanity worse off because of it. Strife arises whenever peace sets in for a fleeting moment… How does it end? How do we overcome the barriers that mankind has so long desired to break?

“The answer is simple. We cannot. Humanity is incapable of doing so. At the core of the human condition lies a weak and impotent spirit that undermines all we strive towards. We desire petty things and act irrationally. We hate when others interfere, inadvertently or otherwise, with our own foolish schemes. The only way to fix humanity would be to change it… To destroy this spirit which cripples us.”

Cyrus gazed across the assembled crowd of men and women in faux spacesuits to gauge their reaction. It seemed to be enthusiastically sympathetic. That was good.

“Yet spirit remains etched deep into the essence of the planet. The ancients worshipped the embodiments of it as atuas… immortal spirits to be praised and feared. We live in an age where mankind has split atoms and landed upon the Moon, where space has faded to nothingness in the face of electric transmissions. Why should we remain afraid? Why should we be in awe of ancient deities?

“The world still has gods, beings that can create and destroy and change the world around them at will. But those gods are no longer incomprehensible forces beyond our understanding. Indeed, they are more familiar than they have ever been. We, humans, have learned the secrets of the universe and how to make the power of the cosmos our own. Why should we be kept weak by the gods of old? Why should spirit bind us? I… I seek a world without spirit… a new world of reason where mankind has transcended its limits.

“I thank you for your assistance thus far. I invite you to join me on the last stretch of my quest… the last quest that shall ever be undertaken. Together we can erase this imperfect universe, this prison of spirit. Together we can elevate humanity to a condition we can today scarcely dream of. Our time as incomplete and fragile beings staring at the universe in terror and awe has ended.”

Cyrus’ eyes hovered over the assembled crowds, the gullible pawns who would propel him to the end of everything… no… the beginning of everything.

“Now the universe shall fear man.”

\--//|=

Mount Coronet: November 2063

On the way to the Hall of Origin, Palkia stopped at Spear Pillar. What he saw utterly surprised him.

A dark horde was slowly moving up the side of the mountain towards the peak. A few stray attacks or gunshots still rang out, but it looked as if the mountain's defenders had been slaughtered or given up for the most part. Now a powerful and malignant presence was slowly rising to the mountain itself. To be safe Palkia placed a few spacial distortions between the enemy and the top, but he wasn't sure how long they would last. But there was no time to worry about that now. The Old One had summoned him and he could not wait much longer. So with one last glance, Palkia teleported into the Hall of Origin.

The temple definitely reflected the grim situation outside. The top, normally a moving image of the constellations visible from the South Pacific isles, was now obscured by ominous dark fog. The stone floor periodically shone brighter as thunder rumbled and the veil separating Palkia from The Old One was blowing as if moved by a cosmic wind.

"Have you checked the situation outside?"

Palkia turned to see Dialga staring at him, apparently having been summoned as well.

"I have. It looks... less than ideal."

Dialga huffed. "The Old One has had me cleaning up timelines as of late so I didn't notice the demon had become that powerful. I tried displacing him temporally but I can't touch it. I can't alter his past either, or his future. He came from a place outside of time and he's going to another one."

"I've been dealing with some problems elsewhere in the galaxy," Palkia said. "And I can't seem to move him directly, either. He's partially outside of space's reach..."

"Don't blame me; this isn't my fault for once." The two turned to see Giratina slip through a dark portal on the floor and form out of shadows. "I could probably destroy it, though. I'm very good at destroying things."

_Not this close to my home._

All three were silenced as they looked at the veil and heard the ancient and mystical voice radiating through it.

"Then what should we do? Wait for the end?"

_No. That would be unwise._

"Then, uh, if we can't move it and can't kill it, what are we supposed to do about that thing?" Giratina asked.

"And you've kept us busy with other things... did you even want us to deal with it?" Palkia added.

_Frankly, no. If it is on Earth I would not have you fight it. And, as you have pointed out, you cannot move it from this planet. So I have been waiting it out and testing it to see its power and limits._

"For...?"

_For the next time around. Dialga, I discussed the possibility of a temporal reset with you once._

"Yes..."

"Wait, what's that?" Giratina asked.

"Well, we would set back time to a certain date with a few variables changed in order to test a different outcome. But that would take a lot of energy. More than I could readily summon..."

_I have been storing power for some time for an event such as this. Combined with your efforts to clean up your realms, it should be doable. As for the variables... I want each of you to pick a proxy warrior from your realms. Humans this time. I believe that this demon's rise can only be averted by humans._

"How human do they strictly have to be?" Palkia queried.

_Human enough to interact in their society. And Dialga... I shall be picking yours for you._

"Fine. There are a great many heroes throughout time."

_I was thinking of one in particular. Someone who knows more about the demon than almost anyone else. Someone knowledgeable of the events that led to its rise and the politics of this island as well as this mountain... someone you would be very reluctant to appoint yourself._

"...you can't be serious."

_And if I am?_

"I wouldn't support her. No. Anyone else."

_If I ordered you to support her, you would._

"I... I..."

"He would definitely consider it!" Palkia interjected, unwilling to see his friend stumble and offend The Old One.

"Yeah, that, maybe."

_Then it is settled. Go and collect your proxies._

\--//|=

**"GOOD MORNING! RISE AND SHINE!"**

"Ugggggggggh. You'd think after seven years that would be less of a shock."

A vaporeon shook himself and stared at the dim light of morning shining in through the window. Outside the sea was lit up and shining. It was enough to get himself to stand up and get out of bed so that he could stare down at the water below.

His partner, an infernape, stirred behind him and involuntarily sent a shower of embers flying onto their straw beds. The vaporeon quickly doused them, splashing water on the infernape in the process. That was enough to jolt her out of bed and away from the water.

"OK, way too early for that, Evyrus."

"And it's way too early to aim properly, Infernape. But I'm sorry." The water-fox yawned one last time and started waddling to the common area of the Wigglytuff Guild. "So what do you want to do today? Rescue mission? I heard someone got lost in Waterfall Cave."

"Can't we leave that for some rookies? That was, what, our fourth mission?"

"...but I like Waterfall Cave. There's water and you can go on missions there."

Infernape sighed. "Let's just ask Magnezone if anything big has come up. If there's nothing pressing we can go to Waterfall Cave."

"Thanks."

They soon joined the main body of apprentices. Even after years at the guild they were still some of the last to get up, which earned them quite a bit of ridicule. It was about the only thing the others could still trash talk the team about.

After the customary mantras had been said and the teams dismissed, the Chatot who served as second-in-command of the guild flew over to them.

"*ahem* You two. I have a special task for you today."

Evyrus' ears involuntarily drooped. "No Waterfall Cave," he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. Keep going."

"Yes. Right. Anyway, an old friend of mine has requested to meet me at the bottom of the World Abyss."

"Great, so what do you want us to do today?" Infernape asked.

"Well, er, there's no good way to put this but..."

"You want us to escort you?" Evyrus asked.

"Yes, that. Now I could absolutely go alone, but the Guildmaster has requested that I go with some protection due to the relatively dangerous nature of the area, and you've been through the dungeon before..."

"Alright, we understand. Can you give us an hour to prepare?"

"Yes, yes. Just get on it. I want to be punctual."

\--//|=

"And that's why if we let the Mexicans in, well, then we have no law! We've already shown that with our failure to impeach the last two presidents, of course, and Mr. Holder still being out of prison—but we can't even keep up the pretense of having law anymore. That's why I'm calling on you, Ms. President, to enforce the law until Congress changes it. That's your job.

"And that's our time for the night. Tune into The Factor tomorrow to see Dr. Ben Carson help us answer one of the most pressing questions of our time: are the Obamaphones brainwashing the poor?"

At the edges of the galaxy, Fox News' most distant viewer turned off her television.

She glanced at the ralts beside her to see it sound asleep. Her species supposedly did that a lot. The girl wasn't sure how much Earthlings actually slept, since they almost never did it on her screen whatever time it was on Earth. But she slept a lot more than she thought the humans did and she was getting tired. Hannity was on next and she could probably collect that broadcast, although that show sometimes got a little fuzzy. The girl mentally scanned the rest of the planet and found that there were a lot of people just outside of her room watching her. That was normal, though. She could've made psychic connection and talked to them but they were afraid of each other and thus preferred not to.

So she decided to just sleep for a while. She was always receiving broadcasts from Earth. They wouldn't be gone when she woke.

In fact, she would be a lot closer to the source.

\--//|=

As for the Heroine of Time, I'll let her introduce herself.


End file.
